The invention relates generally to managing data and information, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for managing data and information between diverse organizations and data management systems.
There are many tools available today that facilitate the sharing of information and data. For example, the use of E-mail is prevalent in the modern organization. Local and wide area network technology permits the sharing of information via shared storage areas (e.g., a global shared drive). The Internet and Intranet technologies permit the sharing of information by way of homepages and the like. There are also applications, such as the Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino applications, designed to facilitate the exchange of data and information. Other applications are known that fulfill the needs of data entry, for example spreadsheets and the like, but these applications are not designed for nor are they well suited to track information in addition to data.
Each of these tools has certain advantages and limitations, particularly when viewed in connection with project management. For example, most of these tools are discrete. That is to say, they do not effectively permit the integration of information and data. For example, E-mail carries a message and may carry additional information by way of attached files. An Internet or Intranet homepage contains information or links to information from various sources. None of the tools facilitates collaborative efforts in connection with the development and editing of the information. In most cases the integration of information and data is accomplished off-line, not in real time, and then reported using these various tools.
An additional limitation exists in that all participants in a project may not use the same tools, may not have all the necessary tools available to them or may encounter institutional limitations in their ability to use the tools they have available. For example, where two large organizations collaborate in a project, these organizations may have security restrictions that limit the project participants from accessing, using and modifying information and data retained within the various organizations"" information management systems. Moreover, the organizations may use differing applications with limited or no compatibility.
The project room, i.e., a physical conference room or xe2x80x9cwar room,xe2x80x9d has been often used to assist in managing a project by providing a common area where project participants can keep and share data and information, where project tracking information may be displayed and shared, and where the project members and project managers can meet to assign tasks and to track the progress of the project. The significant limitation with the project room is that the information and data is only accessible from the project room. The project participants may not be physically co-located, and in fact, may be located on different continents and in different time zones. Online meeting tools, such as the Microsoft NetMeeting application or the Lotus Sametime application, permit the project participants to meet and confer without being co-located, but still do not provide a convenient mechanism for permitting the project participants to collaborate and share information and data or to provide notifications to project participants that there is new information and/or data available.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method for better managing the sharing of information and data and for managing the collaborative efforts of team members.